Family Ties Trivia Quiz

Answer: Genesis

Genesis formed in England in 1967 and their longest serving members include keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford and drummer/singer Phil Collins. Other notable members during the band's history included Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett.

"No Son of Mine" was a top ten single in the UK for the band in 1991. Their follow up single, and title track to their album, was "We Can't Dance", which got to number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a Grammy nomination for the band.

Other clues hidden in the question included:
- "In the beginning" which is the opening line to the Book of Genesis in the Bible.
- Phil and drum, which alluded to Phil Collins, the band's drummer and
- "Buster", which is a 1988 romantic comedy that centres on the events of the Great Train Robbery. Phil Collins plays the eponymous "Buster" Edwards in the film.

Answer: Earth Wind & Fire

Earth, Wind & Fire were one of the biggest bands of the 1970s and early 1980s. Using combinations of R&B, soul, funk, jazz, disco, pop, rock, Latin and African, they were described by Rolling Stone magazine as "the band that changed the sound of black pop". The band arose out of a previous outfit known as the Salty Peppers and was put together by one of their two lead singers, Maurice White. The songs "Fantasy" and "September" were hits for them in 1978.

Other clues:
- The other lead for the band was Phillip Bailey. Bailey had a hit in 1984 with "Easy Lover". This also leads to the connection to the previous question as the single was a duet with Phil Collins. The placement of the line "Nah, not quite" was to indicate that "Easy Lover" was not a project of the band but part of a venture by Bailey on his own.

Answer: Toto

Los Angeles band Toto got together in 1977. Some of their members had already made a name for themselves as session musicians for artists such as Steely Dan, Seals and Crofts and Sonny and Cher. Their biggest success came in 1982 with the release of their album "Toto IV", which spawned the singles "Rosanna", earning the band three Grammy awards, and "Africa". The album would also win the Grammy for "Album of the Year"

Other clues and links:
- The obvious one was Dorothy's dog, alluding to the fictional dog, Toto, from L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".
- The link to the previous question is a little obscure here. Steve Lukather, guitarist for Toto, was featured on two tracks of Earth, Wind and Fire's (EWF) 1980 album "Faces", one of which was the first single "Back on the Road".
- The other link was also an obscure one in that Toto and EWF were record label mates.

Answer: Steve Miller Band

The Steve Miller band started out in 1966 and played a range of styles which included psychedelia and acid rock. Their success was limited and it wasn't until the early 1970s when they focused on straight rock that their fortunes changed for the better. "The Joker" was a number one hit in many countries across the globe in 1973. Further success would follow with tracks such as "Rock'n Me" and "Fly Like an Eagle". Their stocks would rise again in 1982 when "Abracadabra" also became a worldwide hit.

The links:
- David Paich played keyboards for Toto. He also wrote the tracks "Hold the Line" and "Rosanna" for the band and provided lead vocals to their single "Africa".
- David also co-wrote the tracks "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle" with Boz Scaggs, tracks that were vital to the success of Scaggs' multi-platinum 1976 album "Silk Degrees".
- Boz Scaggs was the lead vocalist for The Steve Miller Band for the period 1967-1968.

Answer: Checkmates, Ltd

Produced by Phil Spector "Black Pearl" was a big hit for Sonny Charles and the Checkmates, Ltd, in 1969. This would be the biggest success for the band which formed in 1966 and disbanded in 1970. They re-united in 1974 and ran for a few more years. They had the honour of singing the national anthem at the start of the fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975, the fight that was billed as "The Thrilla in Manila".

The links:
- Sonny Charles joined the Steve Miller Band in 2008 as a vocalist for three years.

Answer: Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence or CCR peaked in the years 1969 and 1970. During this period they'd released four albums; "Bayou Country", "Green River", "Willy & the Poor Boys" and "Cosmo's Factory". It was estimated that, at its peak, the album "Cosmo's Factory" was owned by one in three households across the United States. CCR would never reach the coveted number one spot on the US charts but six of their singles would climb as high as number two. "Proud Mary", which would be successfully covered by a number of artists, most notably Ike & Tina Turner, was a hit for CCR in 1969. "Down on the Corner" is a platinum single from the band's 1969 album "Willy & the Poor Boys" and "Someday Never Comes" was the second single from their final studio album "Mardi Gras" and was released in 1972

Other clues and links:
- The original line up of the band began playing as the Blue Velvets in 1959. The name would later be changed to the Golliwogs before settling on CCR.
- The only real successes that The Checkmates, Ltd had had came from their single "Black Pearl" and a cover of the Creedence song "Proud Mary".

Answer: Gladys Knight and the Pips

The band started performing as "The Pips" in 1952. It became Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1961 and they were signed to Motown Records in 1966. It wasn't until 1967 that they achieved any great success, when they did a version of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong's "Heard It Through the Grapevine". The song would peak at number two in the States. They would enjoy their first number one hit in 1973 with "Midnight Train to Georgia".

Clues and links:
- The clue was a little cryptic. The main dude (character) from the Charles Dickens' novel "Great Expectations" was Pip. The main dude in the band however, is a dudette (Gladys) but this has been smudged out by the beer stain.
- The link is the song "Heard It Through the Grapevine". Creedence Clearwater Revival famously performed an eleven minute cover of the song on their 1970 album "Cosmo's Factory".

Answer: 3T

The band features the three sons of Tito and Dolores Jackson in Taj, Taryll and TJ. Their debut album, appropriately called "Brotherhood" was released in 1995 and their debut single, "Anything", was an international hit. The group would release several songs from the album as singles including a duet with their uncle, Michael Jackson, "Why" and a cover of the song "I Need You", which was written by Eric Carmen and had previously been a hit for Frankie Valli in 1977.

Other clues and links:
- Legend has it that Gladys Knight did advise Berry Gordy that he should sign up a band known as the Jackson Five. Please, don't send me any notes to say that it was Diana Ross. There are arguments galore on the internet for both sides of this argument. It has been used here purely as a fictional device.
- Tito Jackson was a member of the Jackson Five.

Answer: The Raspberries

The Raspberries were a power pop outfit that had some success in the early 1970s. Led by the strong writing talents of their lead vocalist, Eric Carmen, they produced a string of hits that included "Go All the Way" (1972), "Let's Pretend" (1973) and "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" (1974). Influenced by the Beatles and the Hollies they would also prove to be an influence to artists such as Bruce Springsteen and Guns 'n' Roses.

Other clues and links:
- Blowing a raspberry is also known as a Bronx cheer.
- Eric Carmen, the band's lead singer, wrote the song "I Need You" that would covered and released as a single by T3.

Answer: Bill Medley

The Righteous Brothers were not brothers but a duo made up, for most of their time, of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. They had an "on and off" partnership for most of their career but were a force in the 1960s with a host of beautiful ballads to their name. Their first hit, and possibly their finest work, was 1964's "You've Lost That Loving Feeling". They have backed this up with other strong songs such "Unchained Melody" and "Soul and Inspiration". Hatfield teamed up with Jimmy Walker for three years from 1968 when Medley left to pursue a solo career. Sadly Bobby Hatfield passed away in 2003. Bucky Heard has been performing with Medley since 2016.

Other clues and links:
- Eric Carmen contributed the top ten hit "Hungry Eyes" to the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack but the biggest hit on the album was the duet "I've Had the Time of My Life" between Medley and Jennifer Warnes, which was a number one hit in many countries and won an Academy Award for "Best Original Song", a Golden Globe Award for "Best Original Song", and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
- A medley is a mixture as is a farrago, which is what Eric Carmen first calls him. Also, an account is a bill, so when Carmen says he was nearly "called to account" it was a subtle way of saying he was called to Bill.
- Finally, by placing "be warned" next to "Jennifer" it was hoped that there would be enough word association to come up with Jennifer Warnes as his partner.